As Professor Scott Alvord steps into his new presidential role in the AATSP, he plans to serve teachers all across the US.
In January 2026, BYU’s own chair of the Spanish & Portuguese Department, Professor Scott Alvord (Spanish Phonetics), will begin his term as president of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP). He plans to help fellow educators while in this role and hopes that he can inspire others to see the value in language learning.
AATSP is one of the original organizations for foreign language in the United States, and it serves educators who teach any grade from kindergarten to higher education. Since its establishment in 1917, AATSP has sought to preserve Spanish and Portuguese learning in the United States. Today this organization still serves educators across the country through scholarship and mentoring programs, and its mission to preserve language learning has more relevance now than ever before due to declining interest in the subject.
Though he will have many new tasks and responsibilities as AATSP president, Alvord says, “I’m most looking forward to learning from colleagues and hearing their ideas.” He also feels a strong desire to address the sudden decline in language learning in the United States. Alvord says that his ties to BYU—and its status as “the acknowledged language capital of the world” (President Spencer W. Kimball in “The Second Century of Brigham Young University”)—has prepared him for this role in a unique way. He says, “I hope I can provide ideas to create excitement around language study and also provide a little hope for teachers around the country who are nervous about the state of language education.”
To learn more about the AATSP click here.